The Power of Time
by Burke23
Summary: Contains spoilers. The story-line is the same minus apocalypse. Rated M – attempted suicide/swearing/sexual situations – implied sex/underage drinking. Aaron Watson, on the run from his abusive past, sees only one way out, to kill himself. He is stopped by fellow time traveler Max, eventually forming a love triangle with her and Chloe. Based on personal experiences, please review.
1. I Saw a Light

**Ch. 1: I Saw a Light**

AARON WATSON'S POV:

I was running; running from my past, my family, and my home. My mom died and my dad left when I was sixteen, and my bitch of an older sister had to take care of me. She made it her main goal to fuck up my life, and she succeeded. She would hit me, call me names in public, and convinced me that cutting my wrists would somehow help me. One day, I decided not to take her shit any longer. I grabbed her gun, slashed her tires, and ran west.

She never believed in me, no one ever did. No one ever thought that I was telling the truth when I told them that she would constantly abuse me. Everyone gave the same excuse: 'brothers and sisters are supposed to tease each other.' What I went through was not teasing, it was fucking torture. No one believed me when I told them that she abused me. I was laughed at when I tried to show people my talent for music. And I was flat-out ridiculed when I said I had the power to stop time. I have been belittled and have been made to feel worthless my whole life. Well fuck it - I had enough. I was nothing - nobody was going to miss me. Who would even care if I simply vanished from the face of the Earth?

I did not know where I was, but I was on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. I sat against a tree and said with tears in my eyes, "Mom," I pulled out the gun "I'm coming to see you again." I put the gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger.

MAX CAULFIELD'S POV:

It was a peaceful night; there was no moon, there were no clouds, and there were a million stars in the sky.

"Okay," I said to myself grabbing my camera "just need to cover the flash and I will have a great landscape picture." I stood in place for a little while, and then I heard a loud bang nearby. "Oh no," I said turning on my flashlight "I know that sound." I searched around for a full minute until I found the body.

The top of his head was completely open and blood was splattered all along the tree that he was leaning against. His right hand held the weapon of his demise, a small handgun.

"Oh God, oh God, oh fuck," I panicked. "Calm yourself Max, you can just rewind time and save him."

I held out my hand and concentrated. Suddenly, the air was filled with a whirring noise with incoherent whispers and noises in the background. His head pieced itself together like a morbid jigsaw puzzle. I could not help Kate, but I could help this man.

AARON WATSON'S POV:

I did not know where I was, but I was on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. I sat against a tree and said with tears in my eyes, "Mom," I pulled out the gun "I'm coming to see you again." I put the gun in my mouth and…

"STOP!" A female voice yelled from the darkness, and then a light came on that was probably a flashlight.

"You can't help me," I said putting down the gun "no one can."

"Look, I don't know what you're going through and I'm not going to say all that crap about how I understand what you are feeling right now, because no one can. Only you know how you are feeling at this specific moment in time and no one can dictate to you how you should feel," the woman in the darkness said.

"No one cares," I said "I wouldn't be missed if I died."

"You feel how you feel. You are not doing anything wrong by feeling this way. Don't ever feel as if it's your fault. It's not. What is wrong is that someone made you feel that way in the first place?" I could hear her coming closer, but I did not mind.

"My sister hurt me; she would hit me, call me names in public, and convinced me that cutting my wrists would somehow help me," I said showing her my wrists. "Whenever I would tell someone what she was doing, they all would give the same excuse: 'brothers and sisters are supposed to tease each other.' No one believed in me, no one ever did."

"I know I'm just some random girl you don't know, but at least listen what I have to say. You're not going to lose anything by listening, right?" She asked.

"I guess not," I answered.

She began to monologue, "Life is messed up and nothing ever goes to plan, but you make the best of every situation, you keep going and you live for those moments when things go your way. For when the person you love smiles at you and tells you that they couldn't comprehend living without you. For when that kid you told to follow their dreams turns around to you and tells you that without you believing in them, they wouldn't be where they are now. For when that person, who's eyes once filled with despair, decides that they are worth everything and they decide to keep on going, until they find their own happy moments."

My hands began to shake, I dropped the gun and began to cry, "She was my sister, she was family."

"Don't let your sister ruin your life. She isn't worth dying for. You are worth a million times more than she ever could be. Screw her. She doesn't know crap. Don't let her win. If you live, then whatever she has tried to do to you will have failed. You will have won. You will have beaten her. She can't break you," she said.

"You seem like you know what you're talking about," I said with tears in my eyes.

She sat next to me, "One of my friends, she… she took her own life. I couldn't save her. I tried, but I couldn't. I didn't try hard enough, I failed her. I could see she didn't really want to. She felt trapped and alone. That was the only way she saw out. When I look at you now, I can see the same look she gave me when I looked into her eyes before she… before she jumped. She looked so desperate. She wanted someone to listen, someone to help her… someone to save her… I promised myself that I would never let anything like that happen ever again. You don't have to do this. You can stop right now. You won't have failed if you stop now. If anything, you would have succeeded. You would have beaten your demons and survived another day to tell the tale. There are so many things you haven't experienced yet, so many people you haven't met.

"What can I do?" I asked. "I have no family and no place to go."

She put her hand on my shoulder, "You live for the people. You will meet people who will love you and care about you, and you will help and make their lives better. Most importantly: you can live for yourself, for your own happiness. You can get through this. You are strong enough to do this. I know it. Hell, if you've survived whatever you have up until now, then you can pull through the other side of this. If no one else gives a shit, know that I care. The world is a much better place with you in it and it will only cause pain and suffering if you take yourself from it. It won't make anyone happy. I will help you in any way I can. Just please don't do this. Don't rob the world of someone who could do great things, who could make people happy, who could save them."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I wrapped my arms around her and bawled my eyes out. She returned my hug, and then I knew that I finally had someone to count on.

I had not realized that I cried myself to sleep in her arms until the next morning. We were both asleep together and, for the first time in years, I felt safe.

 **I'd like to give a shout-out to my co-authors:** **_Nothing You Can Prove_** **,** ** _HawtDawgMan_** **, and** ** _Fatal Grief_** **. Favorite and Review please.**


	2. Breaking the Silence

**Ch. 2: Breaking the Silence**

AARON WATSON'S POV:

I enjoyed being in the embrace of the random woman. I normally hated people touching me, but she did it out of compassion, not hatred. A flash went off and there was another woman with a camera standing in front of us. She had blue dyed hair covered with a beanie, and she had eyes the color of sapphires.

"This will look great in the scrapbook," she said.

The woman next to me began to stir as the other woman held the newly developed picture of us in front of her.

"Aw, look at how cute you two look Max," the woman said.

The woman next to me, who apparently was Max, tried to snatch the photo, but it was pulled out of her reach before she could grab it.

"Is this your first time 'sleeping with' someone, Caulfield? I was so sure it would be with me. I'm kind of hurt," she had a mock hurt expression in her voice. "I thought we had something special. Now I find that you have stabbed me in the back and slept with someone else, a stranger no less. Oh the pain in my heart right now in unbearable. I thought I could trust you. How could you do this to me, Max?" Her face was strained trying not to grin.

Max rolled her eyes, "Chloe, give that to me, right now."

"Aw, is Max embarrassed? Payback is a bitch," she said with an evil grin on her face.

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

Chloe put one hand on her hip while the other one held the picture in front of her, "Remember that time you oh so kindly took that picture on Halloween of me passed out in a hedge with cat ears and a tail? The one you literally show to everyone we meet?"

 _"I haven't seen it yet,"_ I thought _"I'd better stay out of this for now."_

"Um," Max blushed "I don't remember that."

"Funny how these things work. Anyway, now I have my revenge. Maybe we can trade pictures if you want," Chloe said, offering Max a chance.

"No way," Max whined "that's my only ammunition against you."

Chloe shrugged, "Then I guess I'll be keeping this then. I think this would look nice on one of the notice boards in the dorm corridor."

Max stood up, "Don't you dare."

Chloe spoke in a taunting voice, "What, are you afraid Victoria might see it? Do you have a secret crush on the Queen Bitch of Blackwell? That would explain why you tormented her after she got painted, trying to wind her up and push her buttons, get her all hot and bothered?"

"I don't and you know it," Max said "you knew that I'd had enough of putting up with her shit."

"Ooooh, Max is asserting her dominance," Chloe said, still taunting her.

Max tried to snag the picture again, but Chloe dodged and smacked Max on the ass. "I haven't seen you blush this much since we went swimming in the Blackwell Pool," Chloe said.

"I was not blushing," Max defended, but she _was_ as red as a tomato.

"Oh right," Chloe said "like you weren't eyeing me up. I could see you glancing at me, not that I blame you. I mean come on, why wouldn't you?" Chloe gestured to her body to demonstrate her point.

"I so was not," Max defended.

"Oh please, Max. If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. You were totally checking me out," Chloe argued.

"And you weren't?" Max asked.

Chloe was noticeably starting to blush, "We are talking about you hippie, not me. Don't change the subject."

Max rolled her eyes "Chloe, just please give that back."

"Beg, then I might consider it," Chloe said grinning evilly.

"Okay, fine," Max said "I beg you to give me back the picture."

"Okay," Chloe said. However, when Max had the photo in her grasp, Chloe grabbed the front of Max's shirt and stole a kiss. While Max was distracted, Chloe took the picture back and took a few steps backward.

"Maxine Caulfield," Chloe shook her head "when will you learn that I am better at stealing stuff than you? I always have been and I always will be."

I decided to speak up, "Um... I'm still here."

"Oh, right," Chloe said turning her attention toward me. "Who are you again?"

"I'm Aaron," I said "Aaron Watson."

When I said that, Max swiped the picture back and put it in her bra. "You know, I'm not afraid to try to take that back," Chloe said.

"Um..." I said "are you two... lovers?"

Max blushed "No."

"Not yet," Chloe said pinching Max's ass.

"Ouch," Max said rubbing the spot where Chloe pinched her.

"Still here," I said chuckling.

"Aaron," Max said "I have class in a few hours, but... um... I'd like to meet again."

"Um... sure... where?" I asked.

"I have to go now," Max said "ask Chloe." She walked away and disappeared into the brush.

"So," I rubbed the back of my neck "um..."

"Look," Chloe interrupted "normally I don't want people messing with my girl, but you look harmless enough, so let me give you some pointers. Her name is Maxine Caulfield, but you have to _always_ call her Max, a lesson I learnt the hard way. You should be grateful. I'm saving you from getting hit on the head like fifty times. Although it is all worth it to see her angry face, it's so sexy. Anyway, back on track. She's eighteen years old, and if you do anything to hurt her, I will shoot you."

I was literally speechless. Chloe placed a hand on my arm.

"That's a lot to take in... come on," she said "I'll bring you to my home."

"Okay," I said. As I was about to stand up, I remembered my gun. I discreetly slipped it in the back of my pants.

"Well look at what we have here," Chloe said picking up Max's camera "Max seems to have left her camera behind. I wonder how much money we can get for ransoming this."

"Chloe," I said shaking my head.

"I'll give it back to her after I drop you off at my place," she said.

"Alright," I said. I tried to take a step, but a sharp pain crawled up my legs and I fell to my face.

"Are you alright?" Chloe asked looking concerned.

"I ran for an hour and a half to get here," I said "my legs are just sore."

"Can you walk?" She asked.

"Probably not," I answered.

"Maybe I can help you to the truck," she said.

I rolled onto my back, "That'd be nice."

She held me up and supported me with her shoulder as we started to walk. "So," I said "is blue your natural color."

"That's your pickup line?" She asked chuckling, "At least it's better than 'are those real?'"

"Sorry," I said "I'm not that social, and I'm not that good at talking to women."

"You talked to Max last night," she said."

I thought for a moment, "…I guess that's true."

"Well," she said "here's the truck."

Her truck had seen better days. The doors were brown, but the rest of the truck was mustard yellow. She opened the door, cleared a space for me, and sat me down.

"Buckle up pretty boy," she said "because you're about to go on the ride of your life."

"Off roading?" I asked buckling my seatbelt.

"No," she said winking.

The dash was covered in little bits of paper along with a few crushed cans, a bobble head, and several charms hanging from the rearview mirror. Almost every blank space in the truck was covered in graffiti. She got in, started the engine, and got the car moving.

There was a moment of silence before Chloe spoke up, "So…what was the deal back there? It's not often I find Max passed out under a tree snuggled up to a stranger."

I remained silent; I did not want to tell her that I tried to kill myself… at least not yet.

"It's cool," she said "you don't have to tell me. I was just curious. I get that some things you just have to keep to yourself. I won't pry."

It was quiet for a few more minutes before she spoke up again, "You from around here?"

"That depends," I said "where is here?"

"Arcadia Bay," she answered.

I was shocked, "Damn, I ran seven miles."

"I'll take that as a 'no,'" she said.

"So," I said desperate to change the subject "you and Max seem…friendly."

She chuckled, "That's the understatement of the year."

"How long have you two known each other?" I asked.

Her eyes lit up remembering their times together, "A hella long time. We've been friends since we were kids. We were…separated for a while." All of a sudden she looked sad "Max's parents moved away to Seattle. She's only just recently moved back here about… just over a month ago. We've been through a lot, but we've come out of it stronger than ever. You have to do a lot to break us apart." She half smiled at the thought of her and Max together.

"You really love her, huh?" I asked.

Chloe blush slightly, "What…what makes you say that?"

"The way you speak about her and the way you act around her… everything really," I said.

Chloe laughed nervously, and then she sighed in defeat, "Is it that obvious?"

"Kind of," I answered.

Chloe sighed, "Well, I guess I can tell you. You seem like a decent guy and you probably won't laugh at me or anything. Max seems to think you're okay."

"I'm not that great," I said.

"Come on man," she punched me in the arm playfully "where's your self confidence?"

I looked out the window and saw trees and buildings rush past us. I sighed, "It was one of the first things beaten out of me as a child."

"Then that's the first thing that we need to build back up," she said.

There was another moment of awkward silence. "Life can be tough, God knows I know. I don't suppose you've heard of that missing girl, Rachel Amber?"

"I heard her name on the news, but I don't know that much about the story," I answered.

"Let me fill you in," she said. "Rachel was my girlfriend. Max helped me look for her. She was murdered and buried in the junkyard, and Max helped me find her. Max helped me get through everything. If she hadn't been there…" she paused for a moment, "who knows what could have happened. She saved me so many times in so many different ways, most importantly from myself."

 _"Like how she saved me when I tried to kill myself,"_ I thought. "I see."

"Yeah," she said "anyway, it's too late to change stuff now. Things are how they are and you just have to deal with it as best you can. I can't keep looking to the past. I have for too long and it's caused me nothing but pain and suffering. It's stopped me from being happy now. I have to look forward and enjoy my time with Max." A gentle smile formed on her face, "So, in answer to your question, yeah I do love her a lot and have done for a while now."

 _"That's what I need"_ I thought _"someone who loves me for me, someone who I can love without regret."_

"She's lucky to have someone like you to love," I said.

"You really think so?" She asked.

"I do," I said.

"You're such a charmer. I think we'll get along just fine," she said pulling into a driveway.

 **Big shoot-out to my co-authors mentioned in the first chapter, this wouldn't be possible without their support. Please review, my Traffic Stats are not working so I can't tell if people are enjoying my story or not.**


	3. Confessions

**Ch. 3: Confessions**

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

"This is my house," I said pointing to the now fully painted house. David finally got round to finishing it after… after they found Rachel and all the other fucked up shit that had been uncovered. He'd tried to solve it all on his own. "I need to call my step-father David and tell him that I have a guest. Stay here."

"Like I could move otherwise?" Aaron asked.

"I'm leaving now," I said slamming the door.

 _"Normally I wouldn't share Max with anyone,"_ I thought _"but I have a good feeling about Aaron. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can get a threesome later."_

As soon as I opened the door, I went straight for the phone. I dialed David's number.

 **"Hello?"** he asked on the other line in his usual tired, deep voice.

"Hey there David," I said "it's me."

 **"Chloe"** he said **"I thought that I told you not to call my direct line."**

"No you didn't," I argued.

I could hear him audibly sighing on the other line, **"What do you want?"**

 _"Here goes nothing,"_ I thought as I shifted my weight from side to side.

"I found this guy in the woods," I explained "he needs a place to stay until he finds a home."

 **"Do you know this guy?"** He asked.

 _"Well that went better than I thought, but his mood can still change on a dime,"_ I thought. _"I could lie here, but David doesn't deserve that. Not after everything he has done. Besides, he would probably find out eventually that I don't know him."_

"No, but he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He seems like a decent guy. I mean he hasn't done anything weird. He fell asleep with Max under a tree and she's still here, so it's not like he's a weirdo," I said defending Aaron.

David was silent for a few moments. And then I realized what I said, and I thought, _"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to bring up; it kind of sounds weird when I say it out loud."_ I bit my lip, _"Okay you can fix this, Chloe. Just think of something. Anything. Just speak from the heart."_

"Look, David. I know we haven't always been on best terms with each other. I think we can both claim guilt over that. Recently you've been pretty cool. You saved Max from that bastard and I respect you for that. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough," I said.

 _"If David hadn't been there…"_ I shook my head. _"Don't think about what could have been. You'll drive yourself insane; you have to stay focused on the task at hand."_

"This guy really needs help and he doesn't have anyone else to turn to. I don't know what happened to him, but I can tell it's not good whatever it is. We both know you don't just randomly find people in the woods unless something bad has happened," I said. "We've both been to some bad places. We both know what it's like to feel alone and desperate. Are we really going to let someone else suffer when we can help them?"

David was silent for a few moments. _"Is he even there anymore? He's been really quiet. Here I am monologuing my ass off and he might not even be listening,"_ I thought to myself slightly pissed off.

When David finally spoke up, I jumped in surprise, **"I think that is the most serious and sincere I have ever heard you. The fact that you would go to such lengths to help this man is admirable. I can respect that."** He cleared his throat and spoke seriously, **"However, I want to meet the guy before I let him stay. If he checks out, then I see no problem with it."**

I was shocked; never in a million years would I think that _David Madsen_ would agree with me, "Thanks David. You're the man."

I went to hang up, but David spoke up again, **"Chloe…"**

I held the phone to my ear again, "Yeah?"

 **"I'm proud of you for doing this. Not many people would care. They would have just left the poor guy on his own. Both you and Max are heroes in my eyes,"** he said.

 _"David…David's proud of me?"_ I thought, _"I'm not sure what to make of that. I didn't think I would give a rat's ass what he thought of me, but now he has said it…it makes me feel happy. Is that it?"_

I can feel a smile form on my face. Also, I can feel tears start to form in my eyes. _"It is such a shock that I don't know what to say or how to react. I am so confused,"_ I thought. I stood there, my mouth slightly open, trying to speak, but words failed me. I was rendered speechless. I finally managed to compose myself and I gripped the phone tighter.

My voice broke slightly, "You're…you're the real hero David."

 **"Bring the guy over to the house and I'll have a chat with him when I get back,"** he paused for a moment before continuing **"Chloe, after everything that happened I realized something."**

"What?" I asked.

 **"That I wasn't a good step-dad to you. I'm…I'm sorry for all the horrible things I did to you. There is no excuse for how I treated you, regardless of my intentions. I know I can never replace William. I never wanted that."** We both were silent for a while. **"I just want you to know that… that I love you. I haven't said it anywhere near as much as I should have."**

I was stunned, _"I have never heard David say anything remotely affectionate to me before."_ I pinch my hand to see if I am dreaming and I didn't wake up. This was actually happening. _"Our exchanges were tense at best… violent at worst."_

 **"Chloe? You still there?"** He asked.

I realized that I hadn't said anything for a while, so I spoke up, "Yeah. I am… I was a total dick to you, and I shouldn't have been. I pushed you and tested you at every chance. I knew you had been through some shit because of fighting, but I still fucked with your head anyway. It was childish and stupid. I…I love you too. William may always be my dad, but that doesn't mean that you don't mean any less than he does to me."

I never imagined that I would ever say anything like this to David. If someone would have told me a month ago that I would say something like that to David, I would have laughed at them. It still feels a bit weird, but it's the truth.

 **"You've matured a lot in such a short space of time. Max might have something to do with that,"** he said.

I smiled fondly, _"Max has changed a lot of things for me. She has thrown my world out of balance and challenged what I thought I knew. Where would I be without her?"_

"Yeah," I smiled "I think she might."

 **"I have to go now, but when I get back, we'll talk some more, okay?"** He asked.

"Sure," I said.

 **"Stay safe,"** he said. We both hung up the phones.

"I'd better get Aaron," I said. I walked out to the truck to find a sleeping Aaron.

 _"He looks kind of cute when he sleeps,"_ I thought.

"Wake up," I said shaking his shoulder.

"Not now mama," he said sleepily "five more minutes."

I pinched his nose and he woke up.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I am in five different kinds of pain, and all of them are in my legs," he answered.

"Just give me your hand," I said holding out my hand. When I grabbed his hand, I noticed several horizontal scars across his wrists. "Wait, what the fuck happened to your wrists?"

He quickly retracted his hand, "Nothing."

"Something you should know about me: I'm not a dumbass," I said "you cut yourself, didn't you?"

His face twitched trying to come up with an excuse, and then he hung his head in defeat. "Yes," he said.

I leaned inside and wrapped my arms around him, "I know your pain. Those nights when I lay awake until 3 am with no-one at my side, my dad dead, Max gone, and Rachel missing… I considered it. I really did. I nearly gave into the urges, but I managed to resist. I already drank and smoked way too much, I didn't need to add that to the list. I felt like I had to tell someone, it was eating away at me that I had ever even considered it, so I confided in Max when she came back into my life. I needed to get this confession out of my system. I could tell she was freaking out internally… but she never once blamed me, never once raised her voice… she sat there calmly and talked it through with me."

He returned the hug, "I have waited for the better part of three years to tell someone who would listen to my full, un-abridged, life story."

"And I'll be happy to listen," I said.

"And you don't mind… the wrists?" He asked

"I don't judge," I said "I have some wristbands to cover those if you want to."

"Okay," he said reaching out his hand.

When I laid him on the guest bed, he told me his depressing story of his life, and his attempted suicide. He gave me his gun and told me to get rid of it. Before I did, I wanted to tell David about this. I was almost certain that he wouldn't lose his shit.

 **Tomorrow I have to go to G-ma's house in (censored). It's a 400+ mile (643.738+ Kilo) journey on Icy wet roads, pray that my family gets there in one piece.**


	4. Chasing Away The Nightmares

**Ch. 4: Chasing Away The Nightmares**

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

I paced back and forth for hours with Aaron's gun in my hand. The metal felt cold against my skin. Never has a gun felt so threatening and imposing as now. I used to play with David's gun like a toy, what an idiot I was. All to fit my badass devil-may-care persona. I know now that they are meant to… to take lives or threaten people for whatever reason the owner sees fit. They are not playthings for angsty rebellious teenagers. "I guess that explains why he was in the forest," I said. The seriousness of the matter finally sank in.

My blood ran cold at the thought of what he had almost done, _"If Max hadn't been there…"_ I wondered if she had to watch the first time. _"Max why didn't you say anything? You've seen enough shit to last several lifetimes without adding that to the list… did you think of Kate?"_ I've talked to her about it in the past. She likes to make out she is fine, to deflect the pain with humor, a method I knew well, but there is only so much you can hide. I see it in her eyes when she thinks I'm not looking and it breaks my heart every time. I ran my fingers through my hair, exhaling sharply.

"Fuck, I wouldn't think that he was suicidal," I said to myself.

I heard David's truck pull up in the driveway. _"How do I even go about telling David this?"_ I thought as I turned my back to the front door as he walked in.

"Chloe," he said in his booming voice, "I'm home."

 _"Just play it cool Chloe,"_ I thought. "I need to tell you something," I blurted out.

"What?" He asked looking puzzled.

I sighed, composing my thoughts. "Remember when I said 'you don't just randomly find people in the woods unless something bad has happened'?"

He paused, remembering what I said. And then he spoke up, "Yeah."

I gripped the gun tightly in my hand, "I figured out what he was going to do in the woods." I turned around solemnly and showed him the gun, "He was going to kill himself."

He walked forward and took the gun. He immediately checked to make sure if it was loaded… it had a full clip. He examined it thoroughly turning it carefully in his hands and said, "What happened that would make him want to kill himself?"

"You'll have to hear it from him," I said "he's in the guest bedroom. I think that it'll be better for you if you hear it from him. His name is Aaron Watson, remember that."

AARON WATSON'S POV:

The bed that Chloe placed me in was very comfortable, I began to drift off to sleep.

 _I opened my eyes, and I was in my sister's cabin in the woods. She had the club in her hand and began to beat me with it. "Take it like a man you worthless piece of shit," she said._

 _"MAMA!" I cried out._

 _"You want to be with mom, asshole?" She reached for the back of her pants and pulled out her gun, "Go kill yourself."_

 _She set the gun on the floor next to me, "I'm going to bed, don't get blood on the carpet asshole."_

 _The dream shifted and I was against a tree. I said with tears in my eyes, "Mom," I pulled out the gun "I'm coming to see you again." I put the gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger._

 _*BANG*_

My eyes shot open and I sat straight up. I was covered in sweat and I was breathing heavily. I rub my face with my hands, trying to get my breathing under control. I glanced to my left and saw a man with dark hair and a mustache wearing a security guard uniform.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He walked in and closed the door behind him, "I am David Madsen, Chloe's step-father."

He pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to me, he sighed and leaned back in the chair,"Son, I don't know what you went through. You don't have to tell me all the details, but I would like to make sure that it is safe for Chloe for you being in the house. I don't want her in danger."

He seemed trustworthy enough, "I can respect that."

I recounted my tragic tale to David, at least as much as I was comfortable with sharing. Throughout the whole thing, he was silent and stoic, just taking everything in, letting me tell him everything. He closed his eyes, deep in thought.

After a few moments, he opened his eyes and he shifted closer to me in his chair, "Some things change you in way you never realize they could. One day… you lose it and just breakdown." He closed his eyes momentarily, seemingly reliving an old memory, "To survive that moment is a huge achievement. It might not be the last time you remember it, but it is an important one to overcome. I have never been one for teamwork, but I now realize that somethings you just can't do on your own."

"I understand," I said.

I started to tear up, "Without Chloe or Max, I would probably just be another teenage tragedy that people forget as soon as something more newsworthy turns up."

David looked at me pinching his chin with his index finger and his thumb "Okay, you can stay until you get back on your feet, both from your injury and once you've sorted yourself out."

I was speechless, so I just nodded.

Just then, the door opened and Chloe lurched forward and fell on the ground.

"I assume you heard all that?" David asked with a smile on his face.

She stood up, and gave an innocent smile, "Maybe…"

David turned back to me, "First off, go get yourself cleaned up. Chloe can show you where the bathroom is."

"I brought no extra clothes with me," I said.

"Some of my old clothes might fit," David responded.

It was a little awkward walking up the stairs with barely any feeling in my legs, and I was thankful when I discovered that there was a seat in the shower.

"Here you go," she said motioning toward the door. "The lock kind of gets stuck so I wouldn't recommend using it. I spent an hour trying to get out once. I promise I won't peak." And then she winked at me.

"I think I might lock the door all the same," I said "no offence, but you seem like the kind of person who would barge in unannounced while other people are changing."

Chloe pouted, "Aw, you're no fun."

I lightly patted her cheek and winked at her, "Maybe next time." She blushed and left the room. At this point I could stand on my own two feet, but when I walked I looked like a deer fresh out of the womb. I sat on the shower bench and began to undress myself.

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

 _"Can't blame him for locking the door,"_ I thought grinning evilly _"he was right, I would've barged in on him; which is something Max had to learn the hard way. I remember her face that first time… it was a picture. She refused to speak to me for a bit, but she couldn't stay mad at me for too long though. She never has been able to. God knows she's tried."_

There was a stack of clothes on the couch that David left out for me to give to Aaron. I grabbed them and went upstairs and was about to knock on the door when I heard him sing.

"My eyes adored you, though I never laid a hand on you my eyes adored you. Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see how I adored you. So close, so close and yet so far away."

He was singing very well, it reminded me of when I used to sing before dad died, back before everything went to shit. At least my life's a bit more on track now.

"Carried your books from school, playing make-believe you're married to me. You were fifth grade; I was sixth when we came to be. Walking home every day, over Barnegat Bridge and Bay. 'Till we grew into the me and you who went our separate ways."

I leaned against the door and sang with him quietly.

"My eyes adored you, though I never laid a hand on you my eyes adored you. Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see how I adored you. So close, so close and yet so far away."

After he was done, I knocked on the door and told him that his clothes were outside the door and that his old clothes were being washed. I had to have a serious talk with Max-a-million… and give her back her camera. I bet she was freaking out without it. I told David where I was going, and then left the room. I left knowing that there was hope for a relationship with me, Max, and Aaron. We all had several things in common: we all loved music, and we all had fucked up things that happened to us in the past. This was going to be a great relationship.

AARON WATSON'S POV:

After I got dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror. Innocent blue eyes stared into eyes that have been through so much pain. My shoulder length brown hair was matted. I grabbed a brush and tried to brush my hair… unsuccessfully. I walked down the stairs and saw David with a can of beer watching a football game.

"Um," I said with the brush stuck in my hair "David?"

"Yeah," He turned around and tried not to laugh.

"Do you know anyone who can cut my hair?" I asked.

Then the door opened and a woman walked in with her dirty blond hair in a ponytail and wearing a waitress' uniform. "Davy," she said "I'm home."

"Yeah," David said "her."

Joyce looked up the stairs and noticed me, "Who's this?"

"Aaron Watson," he said "he's going to stay here for a little while until he can get back on his feet. Don't worry, I checked him out, and he's clear. However, he desperately needs a haircut."

"Unless 'brush-stuck-in-hair' looks good on me," I stated pointing at the now dangling brush in my hair.

She chuckled, "I've seen worse. You should have seen a few Chloe tried to have. I'd be happy to cut your hair Aaron. I'm Joyce, Chloe's mother… I'm assuming you know her."

"Thank you Mrs. Price," I said.

Later outside, she set me down on a stool and cut my hair short with shearing scissors. It felt as if I was getting rid of the old me, and with it the painful memories of my past, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. She took a garden hose and held it over my head to get rid of any extra strands of hair. The cold water ran down my scalp, causing me to shiver slightly.

Joyce stepped back and examined her work. "Now, I know it's not the best haircut you've probably ever had, I don't claim to be the best hairdresser in Arcadia Bay, but it'll do."

She passed me a small mirror so I could see. I moved my head, inspecting my hair, she did pretty well. "Thanks," I said.

She offered me a warm smile, "You are more than welcome."

When we went back inside, Chloe and Max were walking in the front door.

"Aaron," Max said looking surprised "you cut your hair."

"Actually," Joyce walked in behind me "that was me. I was very surprised to find a person under all that hair."

"You and me both, Mrs. Price," I said.

"Oh please," she stated "call me Joyce."

Chloe stroked her chin, cocking her head slightly to one side. "You know; you actually clean up nicely."

"Don't sound so surprised," I said. Chloe grinned mischievously at me.

We had pizza for supper, and I went to bed that night. Chloe walked into my room.

"Hey there Aaron," she said.

"What it be chickadee?" I asked.

"Did you really just say that?" Chloe shook her head smiling, "You and Max really are going to get on well with all that dorkiness."

I raised my eyebrow.

"Well," she said "need anything before I go to sleep?"

"Well…" I hesitated "nah. You'd probably think that it's stupid."

She playfully nudged my shoulder "What?"

"Well…" I twiddled my thumbs "whenever I had a bad day at school, my mom would sing Hey Jude to help me sleep."

She sat down on the bed, put her hand in mine, and then she sang, "Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better."

I was surprised when this woman who looked like she wanted nothing to do with old songs knew how to sing Hey Jude, and that she was able to sing well, and with such gentleness. Looks can be deceiving I guess.

"Hey Jude, don't be afraid, you were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better."

Her soft singing began to lull me to sleep.

"And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah."

I can't remember when I fell asleep, but I remember that after she finished singing, she kissed me on the forehead. I didn't have a nightmare that night, I dreamt of what my new life would be like in Arcadia Bay.

 **Thank you all for the support, and I couldn't do this without my co-authors. I can't praise them enough.**


	5. Beautiful Dreamer, Wake unto Me

**Ch. 5: Beautiful Dreamer, Wake unto Me**

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

I walked into the guest room; I figured that Aaron slept long enough.

I went over to the bed. He was curled up in the blanket, his head buried underneath it.

I shook his shoulder saying, "Wake up sleeping beauty."

He curled further in on himself.

 _"Oh you want to play this game, huh? Max always does this. She pretends I am not there. Well, I have some news for you… Chloe Price is not so easily ignored."_

I tugged at the blanket, trying to let the cold air into Aaron's self-made blanket cocoon but he wraps it further around himself.

 _"Ok, time for the big guns. Now do I jump on him or tip cold water over him… decisions, decisions…"_

A loud whisper came from behind me, "Jesus Chloe, let the poor boy sleep."

I glanced back and saw mom standing there, her arms crossed. She was dressed in her waitress uniform.

"But I'm boooooored," I whined.

She shook her head, "God, you are like a small child. People aren't here purely for your entertainment."

I placed my hands behind my head and gave her a mischievous grin, "Sure they are."

Mom rolled her eyes at me and walked up to the bed. She took a moment to study Aaron. She turned to me. "So, how do you know this guy?"

I did not tell mom the whole story. She worries too much. I did not think Aaron would appreciate being coddled. Mom would not let him out of her sight if she knew half of the shit he had been through.

I shoved my hand in my pockets.

"You could say through Max, I guess," I said looking at the floor.

It was basically the truth… at least a version of the truth. I was not lying… just simplifying it. "He's going through a… rough patch and needs some place to stay. Since we had the spare room, I thought I would suggest it. It's not like Max has the room."

The rooms at Blackwell are barely big enough for one person. When I came over to escape David's wrath, Rachel and I always tried to squeeze in the bed… most of these attempts inevitably ended up with one of us waking ass up on the floor, with the other sprawled out on the bed. We had to take it in turns for who slept on the edge, share the burden. I got a few interestingly colored bruises from those nights. At least we got a few laughs out of it.

Thinking about Rachel makes my heart hurt, the wound in my heart is still a bit of a tender spot. I think it always will be. Life just is not fucking fair, as Aaron also shows.

 _"Rachel…"_ I thought to myself.

Mom nodded, "I see. Well, he seems like a decent young man from what I've seen of him."

Aaron shifted in his sleep. I look over to him, "Yeah, he does."

I took this chance to have a good look at him.

Since his haircut, I could clearly see his features. I knew that his eyes were sky blue and that his hair was amber in color. However, what I did not notice was that he had a rounded jaw that was cleanly shaven, he had a small cut on his cheek, but other than that, his face was free of imperfections; he _did_ have dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

I had to admit he is a looker. He _was_ handsome, but there was something else about him that attracted me.

I look up and see Mom smiling at me, "Well, that's a look I haven't seen in a long time."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"Oh there is no fooling me," she said "there is only one other person you look at like that, and that's Max."

I look down at the floor, suddenly finding my boots interesting.

Mom had a stare that could extract the truth from even the most evasive person.

"And?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to play her suspicions down, not that it worked.

Mom looked unimpressed by my deflection attempt, "And I know you're sweet on Max."

"Uh…" I was caught off guard.

Mom laughed, "You do lack subtlety, Chloe."

I rubbed my neck, "Yeah. Not my strong point, I guess I need to work on that."

I glanced back at Aaron. His face more relaxed than I have ever seen it before. I said, "I dunno what it is, but I just have a good feeling, like I'm being drawn to him, you know? It's hard to explain."

Mom put a hand on my shoulder, "I know the feeling well." Her eyes showed a flicker of melancholy, "It's how I used to feel around William."

Mom has not talked much about dad before. We had this kind of unspoken rule that we did not discuss him. The memories were too raw and painful for both of us. Looking back on it now, we probably should not have bottled it all up. Mom had rather put the memories to rest. She moved on with her life and met David. I refused to and remained bitter, letting it consume me.

She spoke up after a moment of silence, "Look, there aren't too many people in this world you can truly spend your time with. We are all on borrowed time. You don't know when your last chance will be. You have to take the opportunity while it's there. I wish I had done that more. William and I were both working too much. We didn't really get the most out of our time as we could have. That is my one regret in life."

 _"I lost count of the people I pushed away in my anger over the past five years. I nearly did the same with Max when she came back. I'm glad Max stayed around, even after all the grief I gave her."_

Mom's mood changed on a dime, "Anyway, enough of being morbid. Shall we get some breakfast on?"

++AARON WATSON'S POV++

The smell of pancakes permeated the air, instantly waking me from my slumber. My stomach growled loudly.

I stretched; still a little sore but at least I could semi-walk. I hobbled down the stairs. I saw Joyce with her back facing me, huddled over the oven, flipping pancakes. When she heard me coming, she turned around.

"Mornin,'" she said.

I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand, "Hi."

My stomach grumbled again. Joyce chuckled, "We'll get that sorted out in a minute. Go take a seat."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

Joyce glances back at me, "That's sweet of you to offer, but I've got this."

I was about to move towards the table when I was almost bowled over. As I was just about to topple over, a hand caught me. I looked around, confused and disoriented. Blue mischievous eyes stare back at me.

"Hey," Chloe said. In Chloe's excitement for pancakes, she obviously was not looking where she was going or saw me.

I smiled, "There's never a dull moment with you around, huh?"

She grinned, "Nope."

I went to take a seat at the table when Chloe stopped me, "That's… that's Dad's seat."

I remember her saying that David was her step-dad. I wonder what happened to her dad. I would not pry. I know what it's like to lose a parent and the last thing I'd want is someone bringing it up. I lost my mom three years ago and it is still hard to talk about. It does not get easier with time.

"Sorry," I said.

Chloe shrugged; her eyes slightly downcast, "No worries. You didn't know."

She looked at me sternly, trying not to smile, "If you do it again, there will be trouble though."

"Duly noted," I said.

She sat down on the opposite side of the table and patted the seat next to her.

"Come sit here beside me," I said "I won't bite… hard."

She winked at me, "Somehow I doubt that."

I sat down beside her. Chloe leaned back in her chair, putting her feet on the table.

I took this chance to get a proper look at Chloe, to admire all of her features. Without her beanie, I noticed that Chloe's hair was not completely blue as I once believed; strawberry blonde roots poked through, and they fade into a light purple and then to the blue I had become accustomed to seeing. This was also the first time I saw Chloe without her black jacket, and I noticed that she had a tattoo on her right arm. But since I was on her left side, I could not make out the design.

She was blushing when she noticed that I was checking her out. I could feel my own cheeks heating up from getting caught.

Joyce came over with the plate stacked with pancakes thankfully distracting both of us from this awkward moment.

"Feet off the table," she said.

Chloe removed her boots from the table as Joyce placed the plate down with a clank.

"Maybe without Max here, you might get a chance to actually have some Aaron," she said laughing.

Chloe smiled, "I wouldn't be so sure. I can pack quite a few away."

Joyce sighed, "Don't I know it. I have no idea where all that food you eat goes."

She walked away and busied herself. Chloe rubbed her hands together, looking at the pile gleefully, "Oh man, I am hungry like the wolf."

She motioned to the pile of pancakes, steam rising from them, "Ladies first."

"Ouch," I said. She offered me an impish grin.

"I'm kidding," she said "but seriously, you go first."

I reached over and took a pancake from the stack. I drowned my pancake in maple syrup and took a bite. It reminded me of when my mom would make Mickey Mouse pancakes for me. It tasted like heaven, with its sweet, buttery taste that made my toes curl.

"Now _there's_ a man with a sweet tooth," Joyce said.

Chloe looked over at me amusedly, her head resting on her hand, her blue eyes piercing mine. "I assume you're enjoying those," she said.

I nodded.

Chloe grabbed a pancake from the stack, covered it in syrup and then descended on it with fervor. She managed to get it all over her face. I let out a hearty chuckle. Chloe looked up from her plate, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"What?" She asked.

I reached out and wiped some of the syrup from her face with my index finger. "You know the idea is not to get it all over your face," I said.

I went to take my finger away, but Chloe grabbed it and licked the syrup off it.

"Can't waste any," she said seductively.

She glanced up at me, gauging my reaction. Her eyes held a mischievous glint. Her hand lingered on mine for a moment, and then she pulled away, returning to her food as if nothing had happened, descending on the remainder of her pancakes. I was speechless. Did she _like_ me?

After a few minutes of silence apart from the clatter for cutlery, I cleared my throat.

"A… anyway…" I stuttered "I was planning on taking a tour through Arcadia Bay."

"How?" Joyce asked.

"A bus," I answered.

Joyce shook her head in disapproval over my suggestion.

"Unacceptable," she said "Chloe can give you a tour."

"Oh come on," I said "surely she has something better to…" I looked at Chloe, and she was staring at me while shaking her head. If Chloe was anything to judge by, I bet Joyce was really stubborn. Sometimes it's better to pick your battles, "… never mind."

Chloe wrapped her arm around my shoulder, grinning widely. The faint scent of cigarettes lingered on her clothing.

"Come on. It'll be fun. Just you, me and the open road, maybe Max if I can convince her to leave her dorm. I'll have you know I'm the best tour guide you will find in Arcadia. I'll take you to all the best places, all have the Price seal of approval."

I wondered what it exactly took for somewhere to get the 'Price seal of approval'. Sometimes it's best not to ask. "Why does that fill me with dread?" I asked.

Chloe scoffed, "Hey, nothing's going to happen to you one my tour, at least nothing you wouldn't want to happen."

She winked me, took my arm and all but dragged me to her truck like an excited puppy. She was talking at a million miles an hour, but I didn't really register what she was saying.

She really was a force of nature, here one minute and gone the next. So unpredictable and impulsive... but I guess that's part of her charm. From what I have seen of Max, she and Chloe seem to be almost polar opposites personality wise, then again that's only on the surface. Everyone has a hidden layer they only show those they trust. Maybe I could uncover that hidden layer eventually.

 **Thank you all for your support… and your patience. I send my love to all of you. Also thank you co-authors for your help in not only making this chapter a reality, but the story itself.**

 **And as for your suggestion** **NitroPlusDmCFan... Sorry, but I don't know what Demonbane is, I _do_ like the DMC reboot though. Sorry again.**


	6. Helluva View

**Ch. 6: Helluva View**

AARON WATSON'S POV:

Before we got in the beat up truck, that I wasn't 100% sure was road worthy despite Chloe's reassurances, Chloe reached into her back pocket. She cursed under her breathe as she fumbled around, trying to find something. I dreaded to think what she had in those pockets given the state of her truck. She let out a small shout of triumph as she pulled out two wristbands from her back pocket and held them out to me. "I have these if you want them." Without a moment's hesitation, I took them and put them on. I thanked her and I stepped into the truck.

Our first stop was Blackwell Academy. We pulled into the schools parking lot and walked towards the girl's dorm.

I glanced up at the looming red brick building as we walked. It certainly looked impressive, if a little overbearing.

As we continued across the grounds, I saw a lot of people lounging around and taking full advantage of the sunshine. The birds chirped cheerfully in the tall swaying trees dotted around in front of the building. A group of skaters sat on a wall near the road, blasting out music and showing off their skills. As Chloe walked past they called out to her. She stopped for a moment to briefly greet them and promise that she would swing by later, then continue on her way.

A sign just to my right read Prescott Dormitory. I tried to get a better look at it, but Chloe grabbed onto my arm when she realized I had stopped and pulled me along impatiently.

"Come on, slowpoke. No time for sightseeing now. Those who lag behind will get abandoned."

There were a couple of jocks throwing a football around on the grass to my left. Sitting on a bench not too far from them was a girl with purple hair completely engrossed in a book. Her proximity to the jocks was an accident waiting to happen, not that it seemed to phase her in the slightest.

Chloe stopped abruptly, making me almost collide into her.

"Okay Arron," she said gesturing to a nearby bench "you wait there while I get Max."

"Right," I said.

Chloe stormed off with purpose, seemingly excited at the prospect of dragging Max along for the ride. She was not in the building for a full minute before a girl with short hair approached me.

"Um…who the hell are you?" She asked.

I tried to talk to her, but all that came out was, "Uh…"

She stared at me, "I know everyone who goes here, so I know you don't."

I swallow hard. She continued to stare at me, her hand on her hip, tapping her foot impatiently. It should be easy to tell her, but my words kept getting in my throat.

"I asked you a question," she stated "well?"

I did not say anything. I looked down at my feet, hoping that the ground will just swallow me so I would not have to deal with this.

"Are you some creepy stalker or something?" She asked, her eyes squinted in suspicion

 _"This is turning bad really quickly. I need to say something…anything."_ I thought.

"N…no…" I managed to utter.

She crossed her arms, frowning at me. Her gaze bored into me, the intensity of it made me anxious. I grabbed my mother's engagement ring that I wore around my neck, put it on my index finger, and spun it.

"Then why are you here?" She asked continuing her onslaught of questions.

"I'm…I'm waiting for Chloe," I stuttered.

She scoffed, "Figures you'd be with her. I don't have time to talk to people like you." She spun around and walked away.

Just as she left, Chloe stepped out of the building. She noticed the short haired woman walking away, and she flipped her off.

She walked in front of me looking genuinely concerned. Her tone was gentle, "Are you okay? She can be a bit insensitive at times. Actually, that's kind of an understatement, she's pretty much like that all of the time. I don't call her the Queen Bitch of Blackwell for…"

I stood up and hugged her cutting her off, I was still getting used to people caring about me. It felt just as good when she hugged me back. She was warm and smelled of cigarette smoke. Just off to my left a flash went off, we both turned and saw Max with her camera.

"Scrapbook material," she said grinning from ear to ear taking the newly developed picture and put it in her back pocket.

"Really?" Chloe asked.

"Still haven't shown him the picture of you with the cat ears and tail," she said.

"Every time you say that I get more and more curious," I said.

"I know the wristbands are new, but is the necklace new?" Max asked.

I looked down and noticed that my mother's engagement ring was still exposed. I grabbed it and said, "Nothing, it's just my mother's engagement ring."

"Lemme see," Chloe said grabbing both of my shoulders and shaking me.

I took the necklace off and held the ring in front of me. Chloe and Max stared at the necklace as if they would never see it again.

"It's very pretty," Max said.

"Max-a-million here likes pretty things," Chloe put her arm around Max "what do you think attracted her to me?"

"Very funny," Max said. After a moment her brow furrowed, "Wait, this is your mother's engagement ring?"

I knew the topic would come up sooner or later. I had hoped for later, much later. There was no point in lying or hiding things from Max and Chloe. They were not asking to make me feel bad or anything. "Yeah… she died a few years ago," I said rubbing my neck and staring at my shoes like they were the only things that interested me.

She held her hand over mine, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," I said gripping her hand "if you're curious; she drowned." A lump formed in my throat at the mention of this and my eyes began to sting a bit. I took a deep breath and swallowed, try to remove it. There was a moment of silence between us as the information sunk in.

"Wow," Chloe put her hand on my shoulder "that must've been hard for you."

"Yeah," I said "since then, I have had a crippling fear of the water." It was at this moment that I realized that I was sandwiched between the two girls. Part of me wanted to pull away out of the sheer embarrassment of being so close to them. Under normal circumstances I probably would have, however this time I didn't. Something about this situation made me feel safe and cared for. The fact that they were here made the pain in my chest at remembering that horrific time less. It was still there, but it didn't feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest as usual when this memory was dragged up from the depths of my mind.

Besides, it would probably be more awkward to pull away. Max and Chloe were trying to comfort me; I should just let them.

I can't keep shutting people out, I needed to start letting someone in, so why not Chloe and Max? The tour of campus was short, I could not go into the girls' dorm and the girls could not go into the boys' dorm.

MAX CAULFIELD'S POV:

When Aaron went to the bathroom, Chloe grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in close, "Max, you've got to tell him about your magic time rewind thing."

"It's not magic," I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. I wasn't really sure what caused my powers, but magic seemed a bit far-fetched. Chloe stuck her tongue out at my dismissive tone.

"Even so," she said, "you have to tell him."

I found it difficult explaining my powers. When I told Chloe I felt like a complete basket case and she had a hard time believing me even though we knew each other. What would a stranger think? Still, it would make life easier to tell Aaron. Worst case scenario, I could always just rewind the conversation and it never would have happened.

"I will," I said, "I feel like we _have_ to be honest with him."

"I agree," she let go of my shoulders "the last thing he needs is for his new friends to be untrustworthy. To change the subject, we're driving to the lighthouse next, and you're sitting in the middle."

Chloe crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby wall.

"No," I blushed a little, "the gearshift always ends up in my crotch and it makes me feel… uncomfortable."

"It's either that or Aaron," Chloe shoved her hands in her pockets "and I think he'll be a bit _more_ uncomfortable with a gearshift in his crotch."

I groaned in defeat, "Fine, but no funny business."

Chloe had a mischievous grin on her face, "You have my word."

I've learned from past experience that Chloe usually never keeps her word if there was fun involved.

The ride to the lighthouse was not fun for me, Chloe enjoyed the look of discomfort on my face as the gearshift vibrated between my legs. Aaron looked out the window the whole time, he seemed to enjoy the wilderness.

"You enjoying yourself there, Max?" Chloe taunted, unable to keep the smug smirk off her face. She always did love to watch me squirm. I shook my head.

"I am so going to hit you," I said.

Chloe seemed amused at this notion, briefly glancing over at me, "Oh, don't make promises you can't keep. You'll get me all worked up for nothing."

I sighed, trying to re-position myself to ease my discomfort. After several failed attempts, I gave up, resigned to my fate and ran my fingers tiredly through my mid-length brown hair.

"You are impossible sometimes. No, make that a lot of the time," I said correcting myself.

This only caused the impish grin on Chloe's face to widen, "It's part of my charm."

I shrugged, "If you say so."

Chloe squinted her eyes at me a bit, her tone teasing, "Hey, anymore of that talk and I'll change gear. You know what happened last time when I did that."

Chloe was having too much fun at my expense with this. She had claimed it was an accident the first time, that she 'forgot', but I wasn't so sure. The ride was uncomfortable enough without Chloe's input.

The truck finally stopped we all spilled out of it, and I was thankful for that.

"This is the lighthouse where Max and I first re-connected after she moved back from Seattle," Chloe said motioning towards the looming beacon.

"'Re-connected'?" Aaron asked.

"We sat on that bench over there and talked about our time apart," I said pointing at a nearby bench.

"Hmm," he looked at the lighthouse "I'm guessing we can't go inside."

"Nope," Chloe said seeming a little sad at the notion "but we don't need to when we have this awesome view."

He walked over to where Chloe was, and I followed him. After a few minutes of admiring the view of the Pacific Ocean and the town, I had an idea.

"Let's get a picture of this moment and put it in the scrapbook," I ran to the truck and grabbed my camera. As I was walking back, I could hear Chloe and Aaron talking. They seemed to be getting on well.

"Does she always take pictures?" Arron asked.

"Mostly," Chloe said jokingly "sometimes she sleeps… when I let her."

Chloe winked at Aaron, making a point of her obvious insinuation. He cleared his throat awkwardly shuffling his feet, an action which appeared to please Chloe. I could hear her light teasing.

Chloe always made it her mission to embarrass those around her whenever possible. Even though I was starting to get used to it, sometimes she would catch me off guard. I placed the camera on the bench and set the timer. "Ten seconds," I said.

I stood on Aaron's right side, and Chloe stood on his left. We all smiled and Aaron held up a peace sign. The flash went off and the picture shot out of the camera. I grabbed the picture and the camera and showed it to Aaron and Chloe.

"I really like it," Aaron said.

"It's fine," Chloe said grinning "I could think of something better the three of us could do together." She licked her lips, and Aaron blushed.

"C'mon," I said gesturing to the truck "it's lunchtime."

 _"I will tell him,"_ I thought _"I will tell him about my powers at the dinner."_

 **Thank you all for your support.**


	7. A Rough Ride

**Ch. 7: A Rough Ride**

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

Max, Arron, and I walked towards the truck when I stopped Max. "Aaron," I said "I need to talk to Max, please get in the truck."

He nodded and got in the truck.

I strolled up to Max and threw my arm around her shoulder, "Max-a-million, it's your lucky day, you don't have to sit in the middle seat."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

I smiled my famous evil smile, "Instead you'll be sitting in Aaron's lap."

I could tell that she was furious, she was cute that way, and she breathed deeply and said, "Damn you."

I let her go and she walked to the truck with her shoulders slumped as I followed her.

While I got in the driver's seat, Max simply starred at the door handle on the passenger's side.

"Why is Max just standing there?" Aaron asked me with his head tilted curiously.

"I told her that if she's uncomfortable in the middle seat, that she'd have to sit in your lap," I said stifling my laughter.

Aaron blushed deeply, he knew there was no avoiding what was about to happen.

He turned to Max. "M-M-Max," he stammered "i-i-it's okay if you s-s-sit in my l-l-lap."

Max turned to Aaron and sighed.

"Sorry about this, Aaron," Max said as she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, her cheeks carrying a slight blush at the compromising situation they were going to be in.

"I guess it can't be helped," Aaron mumbled nervously.

"Yeah, but a certain someone is taking way too much pleasure out of this," Max said as she shot an accusatory glare at me. I grinned mischievously in response.

"Just think of it as a… bonding exercise," I said grinning from ear to ear.

Max's blush deepened and she stared incredulously at me, "Chloe!"

I glanced over at Aaron to gauge his reaction. He was staring at the floor in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. It was kind of cute how they were both getting so flustered over this.

"Hey chillax, I was kidding. If you're really feeling that uncomfortable about it, you can still sit in the middle if you like."

"Like hell I will," Max scoffed. She had one too many bad experiences with that arrangement. She had promised herself she would never do that again, especially not after last time. I shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Well, unless you want me to strap you to the roof, I don't see any other alternative."

Max muttered under her breath, something I had always found adorable.

"If there are no further objections, let's get this show on the road," I announced excitedly.

She opened the door and slowly positioned herself on Aaron's right leg. Then she stepped into the truck with her left leg, and then her right. And finally, she positioned herself so that her ass was pressed firmly against his crotch.

"See," I said "was that so hard?"

"Damn you," Max said in a slightly strained voice.

"You know you love it," I said.

"Tell me if I get too heavy for you," Max shyly mentioned to Aaron, who could only nod in acknowledgement. Words failed him now, which maybe was a good thing. Anything he had to say would probably make this ten times more awkward than it already was, if that was possible. I scoffed at the redundancy of Max's comment.

"Oh puh-lease Max, there is literally nothing on you," I stated

Max frowned at me in annoyance, "Well unlike you, some of us are actually considerate of other people."

"Ouch, burn. Whatever shall I do to escape this scorn?" I mocked playfully, then smirked smugly at Max, "The more you complain about this my dear Max, the worse it'll be. Just belt up and… enjoy the ride."

I winked suggestively at them. Aaron shuffled awkwardly in the seat, refusing to meet my gaze. Max opened her mouth to protest, but closed it immediately. Nothing she could say would make this situation better for either her or Aaron. She was better off keeping her mouth shut and getting this over with.

She reached behind her and grabbed the seatbelt, stretched it across her chest, and buckled it. I took the liberty of tightening it for them.

"Don't worry," I said "I won't be _too_ rough."

And then we began the decent on the bumpy road that led to the town. "How you holding up there, Aaron?" I asked a few minutes into the journey, breaking the awkward silence.

"Um… f-fine," he stuttered.

"I bet. I would be if Max was sitting on my lap," I said thinking of me in Aaron's position.

"Dog, Chloe. Is it your aim in life to make everything so much more embarrassing than necessary?" Max asked.

I smiled, "Only when it comes to you, Max."

Max rolled her eyes, "Great."

"Hey, consider yourself lucky," I said.

Max raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Oh yeah? How did you work that one out?"

"Well," I explained "I don't spend this much time teasing just anyone." It was true. I only teased people I deemed worthy of my affection.

"So, I just got dragged into this?" Aaron questioned.

I chuckled, "You're an added bonus."

I loved teasing them, and by the time we reached the Two Whales Diner, they were both flustered. Aaron and Max spilled out of the truck and quickly exchanged apologies.

The Two Whales Diner was not too impressive, but it was its simplicity that made it special. In most places it would have been easily overlooked and forgotten, but in a place like Arcadia it fitted in perfectly. It's interior had a counter with swivel chairs on one side and tables with booths on the other side. A familiar retro jukebox sat in the far right hand corner, one I was surprised hadn't given up by now considering the fact that I'd used it in the past. I had little patience for anything, preferring to resort to kicking things and swearing if they didn't work the way I wanted. This meant that most things I touched ended up breaking for one reason or another.

Max turned to Aaron, "This place has the best damn hamburgers in Arcadia."

"Sweet," Aaron said "I have to go to the bathroom. Go ahead and order for me if the waiter gets here before I come back."

"I will," Max said.

As Aaron headed to the claustrophobic bathroom, Max and I walked to our table and sat down. When Max and I were kids we used to come to the Two Whales all the time, almost as much as our tree fort. It hadn't changed much at all since then, apart from looking more run down just like everything else in Arcadia.

I could see mom eyeing up our table briefly before she walked up to us and said, "Chloe, I guess you're here in search of free food."

I put on my innocent face, "Can't I see my own mom without suspicion of my motives?"

Mom chuckled, "Maybe if I didn't know you so well."

My expression became one of mock hurt, causing Max to smile and shake her head, "Don't act all innocent, Chloe. We all know damn well that your stomach pretty much rules your actions."

I leaned in closer, my breath warm against Max's ear and my voice hushed as I whispered, "That's not the only thing that… motivates me."

The huskiness of my tone made Max's cheeks heat up considerably.

"Now just what are you two whispering about over there," mom questioned narrowing her eyes in suspicion, "I'll start to think you're bad mouthing me."

I offered mom a cheeky grin, "Well, that's a secret," I briefly glanced over to Max, satisfied with the reaction I had received, "for Maxi-Pad's ears only."

"Maxi-Pad… are you serious?" Max sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Damn right," I smirked, then turned to mom, "Just so you know, free food wouldn't go amiss."

Mom placed a hand on her hip and gave me a mildly amused look, "That's what I thought," she shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen area of the Two Whales.

When mom was out of earshot, I lounged back in my seat, "So… what do you think of Aaron so far?"

Max scratched her chin, "He seems nice."

"Nice… huh?" I raised an eyebrow suggestively, a lop-sided smirk forming, "you know, nice is a very vague term to use, Caulfield."

"What do you mean?"

My grin widened, "Well, it seems like a very deflective word. Like there are things you feel embarrassed to say… so 'fess up."

Max shrugged, uncertain as to what I was getting at, she took a sip of her coffee and glanced out of the window at the almost empty street outside. Arcadia Bay was essentially a ghost town at this point in time, "There isn't anything to confess, from what I've seen of him he's a decent guy."

"Considering you've spent half your time around him sitting on his lap, I was hoping for a more interesting answer," I put my hands behind my head a bit disappointed with Max's vague answer.

Max nudged my shoulder, the blush on her cheeks deepening at her insinuation, "You are so gross."

I leaned forward and put my arms on the table, "You love it really."

"If you say so," Max shrugged. "Besides, maybe I should be asking you that, since you've spent much more time around him than me."

"Aw," I leaned forward with a taunting smirk "is Maxine jealous?"

Max rolled her eyes, "Hardly."

"Oh, you so are. That is so fucking cute. Don't worry, there's enough of me to go around," I teased.

Max continued to blush, "I… I'm really not."

I summoned my inner Shakespeare and proclaimed, "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

Max sighed, knowing no amount of denying this would make me relent.

"Oh come on, don't pout, Max," I pinched her cheek "Tell you what, I'll give you a kiss to make it all better."

"Wait," Max rubbed her cheek "we're in the middle of the diner and your mom is literally over there."

"So?" I asked seductively.

Max rubbed the back of her neck, "So it's… embarrassing."

I ruffled Max's hair gently, "I see, you want to save it for later when we're alone, with nothing to… interrupt us. Bold move, Max. Can't I at least get a cheek kiss in?"

Max shuffled nervously in her seat, glancing around at the nearly empty diner, "If it's quick."

I leaned over and briefly placed my lips on Max's cheek, then again for good measure. It took a lot for me to resist continuing to kiss Max everywhere, but I pulled back. I didn't want to make Max mad. At this moment mom came back over with some drinks.

She looked at us with suspicious looks "What are you two up to? You look very guilty of something."

Max tried to hide her blush, "I…it's nothing, Joyce."

"I was just asking Max about Aaron," I casually remarked, unfazed by nearly being caught unlike Max.

Mom smiled, "He certainly is a pleasant young man."

I threw Max under the bus, "Max thinks he's 'nice', whatevs the hell that means."

She turned toward "Maybe you should spend some more time with him."

"You think?" Max asked.

"You totally should. You guys both seem like total nerds. Lucky for you, nerds are hot," I winked.

Mom offered me a knowing smile. I really wasn't subtle in the slightest, however around people like Max it was not any wonder.

I placed my hands behind my head, "Seriously though, I think you guys have a lot in common."

"Is that your expert opinion, Professor Price?" Max asked.

"My intuition is never wrong," I said.

"I beg to differ," Max rolled her eyes.

"Well, I guess you'll have to find out," I said.

"As much as I'm usually dubious of Chloe's judgement," mom interjected "I reckon that might be a good thing for you. If you spend too much time just around Chloe, you'll end up getting into all sorts of trouble."

I put on my innocent face, "You make it sound like I'm corrupting Max or something."

"Whenever you guys got in trouble as kids, it was always because of your schemes if I'm not mistaken," mom explained.

I crossed my arms, "Maybe."

"Anyway," she turned to Max "I think you and Aaron would get along well."

Max smiled, "If you think so Joyce, then I'll give it a shot."

I acted offended, "Oh, I see. When I suggest things everyone is quick to dismiss me, but if someone else does it then you accept it instantly."

Max looked deep into my eyes, "Unlike you, most people don't make it their sole aim in life to torment me."

I shrugged, "I guess that's a fair point. Like I said before, I don't just tease anyone."

AARON WATSON'S POV:

I washed my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror. "You need to tell them. You can't base a relationship on lies. You need to tell them that you can stop time."


	8. Lunch with Friends

**Ch. 8 Lunch with Friends**

AARON WATSON'S POV:

This was either going to be the best or the worst decision of my life; confessing to Max and Chloe that I was a human stopwatch. I knew how I was going to do it: I was going to tell them the story instead of bluntly saying it. Context would be crucial here if I did not want to sound like a total lunatic.

After taking a deep shaky breath, I slowly walked back to my table, trying to gather the right words to make them believe that I was not lying. Chloe and Max appeared to be messing around at the booth as I approached it. I almost did not want to interrupt them. It was obvious that they meant a lot to each other and sometimes I felt like I was intruding. If I told them that, they would shoot me down and tell me I was being stupid. Besides, something told me that if Chloe had a problem with me sticking around she would not hesitate to tell me. She certainly had no issues speaking her mind, and often without any filters or tact. I shook these self-conscious thoughts out of my mind as I sat down next to Max.

Once I had returned to the table, a wave of unease passed over me, my resolve weakening by the second. So many doubts and worries rushed through my mind, making it harder to bring this conversation up. How would Max and Chloe react to this? There was really only one way to find out for definite…

"Something on your mind?" Max asked curiously, her head tilted slightly to the side and her soft blue eyes staring at me intensely. This question thankfully gave me the prompt I needed to get started.

"I need to confess something," I replied, swallowing my apprehensions. This could go completely wrong, but I had to try. My powers were a secret I could no longer bare alone, both for myself and for Max and Chloe. It was a gamble I had to take.

"Oh relax," Chloe said with an impish smirk I had begun to expect from her when she was about to say something to try and embarrass me, "I already know that you're desperately in love with me."

Max rolled her eyes at Chloe's well practiced and relentless mockery, one she probably had been personally subjected to more times than she could count. Then she turned to me and said, "Don't be shy, you can trust us."

I grabbed a napkin and began to fold it. And as I folded, I told my story. "I went to my mother, Darlene Watson's funeral with my dad, Nathan, and my sister, Abby. Dad had been drinking and he hit me that morning, and Abby said that I was somehow responsible for her death, she drowned while on a fishing trip. I sat between dad and Abby, two people who seemed to hate me more than anything. I concentrated really hard to try and drown out the sound of the mourning relatives and friends of my mom. When I opened my eyes, everyone was still. It was uncomfortably quiet. So I got up and left the funeral home. Outside, the birds in the sky stood still and the water that shot out of sprinklers stood still in the air." I leaned in closer to them, "Time had stopped."

The napkin I was folding finally became a crane. Around that time, Joyce came over with two plates of food.

"Aaron," she said in her cheery tone, "your hamburger will be ready shortly."

"Thank you Joyce," I mumbled before turning back to Max and Chloe, my heart pounding in my chest as I waited for their reply to my strange confession. My stomach was churning up now from nerves as I shuffled awkwardly in my seat, hoping that this unbearable silence would eventually pass.

I had half-expected them to brush me off, to tell me that I was high or crazy. I wouldn't blame them to be honest, even I had a hard time coming to terms with this. Instead, they exchanged tentative glances. Max bit her lip, her brow furrowing in confliction while Chloe began tapping her fingers on the table we are sat at. A heavy silence hung over our heads, the suddenly tense atmosphere making me fidget awkwardly.

After a few moments, Max sighed and began pushing her food around with a fork distractedly, "Well, that wouldn't be all that unbelievable."

The fact that Max was even entertaining the idea, let alone that she seemed so ready to accept it, was mind-blowing to say the least.

"Wait, you...believe me? Just like that?" I ask incredulously. While I was happy and relieved that she believed me, I still could not work out why.

Max glanced up from her food, her intense blue eyes piercing mine, "Because maybe you aren't the only one."

"Are you saying...?" I stammered, the implication of her words slowly sinking in.

Chloe leaned back in her chair, placing her hands behind her head, "Now I am feeling left out. How do I always manage to hang around with the weird ones?"

"I could ask the same thing," Max lightly teased.

"I can prove it if you need me to," I said feeling both surprised and glad that they believed me, but also curious at Max's subtle inference that she also possessed time travel powers. It was hard enough to believe that one person had that power, to find out that there was at least one other person was incredible. I had to wonder how many other people had this power.

"You don't need to," Chloe smiled, a mischievous glint entering her eyes as she thought over my offer "but it would be fun."

I held out my hands, "Grab on."

Max and Chloe grabbed my hands, Max's hold being much lighter and considerate than Chloe's who was almost crushing my hand with her vice-like grip, I concentrated, feeling the now familiar surge of power, and then time stood still.

"Here we are," I said "in the place where time doesn't exist."

Max and Chloe looked around their now frozen surroundings. The soft music from the jukebox no longer played and a trucker sat at the counter, who must have entered the diner while I was in the bathroom, was halfway through bringing a fork full of food to his mouth. Joyce was frozen in place just behind the counter, a tray full of dirty plates, mugs and cutlery in her hand.

"I don't feel any different," Chloe said.

"You shouldn't," I said, "when you grabbed onto me, you became part of me. When I stopped time, you followed me to this place where time stands still, but everyone else is paused."

"You know," the blue haired punk smirked before eagerly adding, "I am almost tempted to check out the bathroom to see if I can peak in on anyone."

Max's face scrunched up in mild disapproval, "Ew, Chloe. No. Just… no."

"What?" She countered defensively, "This might be my only chance to do it. I'm not gonna do it when people know I'm there, am I?"

Max shook her head despairingly at her old friend, "It's a good thing that you aren't the one with powers, huh?"

Chloe crossed her arms, "If I had powers I would use them awesomely, not like you who won't let me play around."

"I've let you 'play around' more than enough," Max refuted her claim firmly, "and it never ended well and before you ask me for an example, the Junkyard gun incident is the one that springs to mind."

Chloe dismissively waved away her proof, "Live a little, Max. That's why I am here; to make sure you have fun."

"You have an interesting idea of what fun is," Max sighed as she ran her fingers tiredly through her hair.

This caused Chloe's strawberry blonde eyebrow to rise suggestively with an enticing grin, "Oh, I haven't even begun to show you what I think is fun, Caulfield."

Chloe looked to her right and saw something that made her grin evilly. "Aaron," she said motioning out of the closest window overlooking the almost bare street, "look over there." I followed the motion and saw a familiar person. A girl with short blonde hair, condescending brown eyes and a slight sneer of disapproval on her lips was walking past the diner, it was the 'Queen bitch of Blackwell' Victoria Chase.

"Chloe," Max said cautioned in a mildly stern tone, at least as stern as she could make her soft-spoken voice, "what are you planning?"

"I'm going to have some fun with her while I can," she chuckled standing up and beginning to leave, "You do remember what fun is, right?"

"I should probably mention that I can't maintain this paused moment for over thirty minutes, otherwise my nose starts bleeding," I added, already beginning to feel the telltale signs of the inevitable strain my powers caused. It always started with a mild throbbing, which soon escalated into a mind crushing pain among other things.

She turned back and smiled, "I only need five."

She strode out of the Two Whales Diner and stood in front of Victoria, rubbing her hands eagerly together in anticipation before flashing us an excited smirk, "Super-Max, get out your camera."

"I'm not even going to ask," Max muttered as she reluctantly conceded, reaching inside the well-worn camera bag slung over her shoulder and produced her camera.

"I wouldn't complain too much," I noted hesitantly as I watched Chloe eyeing up Victoria thoughtfully, "at least she's directing her pranks at someone other than us for a change."

"Exactly," Chloe agreed as she began circling Victoria, pondering over what to do to her, "Be happy that you get a break for once. It won't happen often."

"Yeah, I guess," Max exhaled deeply as she prepared her camera to capture whatever Chloe had in mind. She just hoped that Chloe would keep it relatively tame.

After some deliberation, Chloe put both of Victoria's hands on her ass and, with her own hand, groped Victoria's breast. After that she kissed her on the lips. Max took a picture and it popped out of the camera, which Chloe almost immediately snatched out of her hand, looking over it with an ever growing smile.

"Not bad, Super-Max. Not bad," she handed the photo back to Max.

"You're not going to blackmail her are you?" I asked.

"No," Chloe licked her lips, "that was for fun." That infamous mischievous grin of hers suddenly returned, accompanied with a worrying glint in her blue eyes, "If I wanted to blackmail her, I'd take a picture of her having sex with an unpopular kid in Blackwell."

We were all silent, and then Max and I simultaneously said, "Don't even think about it."

"You guys are such downers," Chloe pouted at our reluctance to comply with her morally obscure plans.

We went back to the dinner and I un-paused time. Max was right, they were really great hamburgers. After we filled our stomachs, we began to travel to the last part of the tour, the American Rust Junkyard. For obvious reasons, Max and I decided to walk there, but not before Chloe grabbed something from the back of a truck.

"My guitar," Max said surprised "when did you get it?"

"You left the guitar at my house the last time you came over," Chloe explained, "I grabbed it this morning and put it in the back so I wouldn't forget it."

"And we were driving around all day with it sitting loosely in the bed of your truck," Max said with mild panic, "need I remind you that it's _your_ truck?!"

"It was in the case," Chloe said smugly.

"You could've scratched my stickers," Max grumbled as she carefully took the guitar from Chloe, removing it from the case and began checking it over, her whole body tensing up as she diligently checked for any marks. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the main body of the guitar as she squinted. After a few moments, the tension in her shoulders slowly began to leave as she confirmed her guitar's safety and replaced it back in the case with great care.

"Ah, but I didn't," she stated.

"Lucky for you," Max sighed in relief.

"Well," Chloe clapped her hands together "I have to go to my house to pick up some things. You two go to the junkyard and don't fuck each other while I'm gone."

Max and I both blushed as Chloe laughed her way to the driver's seat of her truck and sped off.

"So," I said "how far is it to the junkyard?"

"A few miles," she replied.

"I'll carry the guitar if you want me to," I offered. She handed it to me carefully and we started our journey.

 **That took longer than I wanted it to.**


	9. A Kiss

**Ch. 9: A Kiss**

MAX CAULFIELD'S POV:

Holy shit! Aaron could stop time? I thought I was the only one. I knew there was something about him, but this was ridiculous.

We were walking down the gravel road that led to the American Rust Junkyard.

I glanced over to him again, still in shock. He really didn't look like someone who could literally make the world bow with the power at his fingertips. Then again, neither do I. Looks could be deceiving. How many other people out there could rewind time?

A deep sigh escaped my lips.

"Thinking about something?" A quiet voice from beside brought out of my thought.

My head turned to see Aaron looking at me, his face lined with mild concern.

"Just…spacing out. A bad habit of mine," I replied as we continued on down the beaten track.

Aaron carefully shifted the guitar case on his shoulder, "I see."

I was so not good at maintaining a conversation, especially with people I didn't know that well. I suspected Aaron was the same. Maybe we were too similar in some aspects. With Chloe, I could pretty much talk for hours about anything. That came with time though. If I could just find the right topic to start us off…

"So…you play?" Aaron asked as he motioned his head towards the guitar case.

Guitars were a topic I could endlessly talk about if you let me.

"I do. I'm not great at it, but I enjoy it. Probably as much as photography," I admitted. "Whenever I play, I can just forget about everything going on and chill out for a while."

"I know the feeling," Aaron said. "Before my mom died she taught me how to play the guitar. I loved the feeling of creating music. I joined the school band soon after that, but the guitar was not allowed."

"So what did you play?" I asked.

He was quiet, and then he mumbled something.

"What?" I asked.

He sighed, resignedly, focusing on his shoes as he answered "Saxophone."

I held back my laughter, I could not see him playing the saxophone. Despite my best efforts to hide it, he must have noticed my stifled laughter. Thankfully, he didn't seem too annoyed by my lack of tact.

"How long have you played?" I asked, trying to salvage the situation.

"I played the saxophone for about six months, and I gave up when mom wanted to teach me hw to play the guitar," he stated. His voice was halfway between happy and sad.

"Sweet," I said, "maybe you'll have to show me your mad skills sometime."

"Only if I can hear you play," he countered shyly, kicking a loose gravel with his foot.

"I guess we have a deal then." I agreed, feeling a bit nervous at the thought of playing in front of him. The only person I had ever really feel comfortable playing in front of was Chloe. She might tease me a lot, but when it comes to something I'm super self-conscious about she goes into Major Encouragement Mode. I knew she would not be secretly judging me either. Maybe it was time to start widening my audience.

Eventually, we made it to the junkyard, a home away from home. I was a bit out of breath when we got there, totally not used to walking around this much. Sports, exercise in general really, was not my forte.

"God there have been so many memories here," I said looking around at the endless stacks of warped car frames, mountains of dirty rags and other unwanted refuse. Tall trees swished in the background, encircling the Junkyard. The ground shook slightly as a train passed through on the railway line. I made a mental note to stay the hell away from the tracks, and most importantly to keep Chloe away from them too, not wanting to repeat certain experiences. In the distance, I saw the unassuming gray building that used to be Chloe and Rachel's hideout. Now it was more like a memorial. My heart constricted painfully, knowing Rachel's dismal fate. Instead of focusing on it, I turned my attention back to Aaron.

"I bet," Aaron stated taking in his surroundings.

We sat in the shade of a pile of rusted cars stacked on top of each other.

"Can you tell me about your mother?" I asked. The Junkyard lent itself to morbid topics, especially with what happened to Rachel.

He chuckled, "She had brown hair like mine, but her eyes were brown, I got my blue eyes from my grandma. She was about five feet ten inches tall. She was very beautiful, kind but sad." His brow furrowed slightly as he recalled the memories. He turned toward me, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem to admire her," I said fiddling with the laces on my right converse shoe, "I'd like to know why."

He paused, trying to put together the words to describe his mother. She was the only person in my life who seemed to love me… until I met you and Chloe."

I felt my face getting warm, "Um… I… um… thanks. What's your favorite song?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel," he stated, his expression distant like he was in a place and time a million miles away, "the song is very descriptive and I always wanted a large eagle to come from the sky and take me to a better place."

It took me a moment to take in the information, and then I said, "Mine is Obstacles by Syd Matters. I love the message that life will always be a challenge." I was quiet for a while and so was he, I wanted to show him the memorial, but I did not want to force it on him.

"What's that over there?" He asked pointing at the memorial.

"Um," I said relieved that he found it on his own, "you should see it for yourself." I stood up and helped Aaron too his feet.

We walked to the memorial, and I explained to him what it was, "I assume Chloe told you about Rachel?"

He nodded solemnly. The thought that this had been Rachel Amber's resting place made me feel strange and sad. It always would, no matter how much time passed. At one point, both Chloe and I had been so convinced that we would find her alive and well. That hope just was not to be. While I did not know Rachel personally, she obviously meant so much to Chloe. That much was most evident the day we first exhumed her. I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. Hearing the pain in her voice and feeling her body shaking in my arms, her warm tears falling onto my neck. As far as I was aware, Chloe had only ever reacted as strongly as that one other time in her life, when William died. That thought made my heart constrict painfully.

"This was where we found her body," I tried to hold back my tears, but I failed. My voice stuck in my throat, making it hard to convey the story I already found it difficult enough to tell. I took a deep, calming breath and continued as best I could, trying not to remember how broken Chloe had looked and sounded that day. "The memorial was placed there by Chloe, she made a cross out of twigs and twine and placed it where her head was. Every week she places something around the cross. Last week she placed a handful of gravel here. I placed a picture of a deer here with her."

"Huh," Arron muttered while looking down at the makeshift grave marker, "Chloe never struck me as a religious person."

"She's not," I stated, doing everything I could to keep my tone calm and steady, a battle I seemed to be losing as I whispered the next few words "she said that it just felt right."

He sat down at the foot of the memorial, and I joined him. We were silent for what felt like an eternity, just staring at the twisted cross. Everything that had happened in that second week of October felt like a bad dream. If only it had been. I glanced over to Aaron, noticing the melancholy in his expression as his blue eyes fixated on the cross. He was the first person besides Chloe and I, other than Frank, who had remained here for a prolonged period of time. Not only that, but he was the first person not involved with the whole incident somehow to have visited, as far as I was aware. After a few moments he finally spoke again, sounding emotionally strained.

"My town placed a large engraved river-stone on the bank where my mother was found. 'Rest in Peace: Darlene Watson.'" He swallowed hard as he gathered his thoughts, "There is one thing that she told me that always tuck with me: it is better to be abused then to abuse. That is why I never used my time stopping power against my sister or my father, so I would be the bigger person."

I put my hand on his, and he squeezed it tightly. "Thank you…" he practically whispered, "for caring."

I had no idea why, but I leaned in and stole a kiss from him. We were silent, his blue eyes stared into mine, and my blue eyes stared into his. I was about to apologize, but before I could, he leaned in and kissed me back. The second kiss lasted for thirty seconds, and it felt right, nothing else mattered in those thirty seconds. Little did I know that two evil eyes were spying on us from a distance.

AARON WATSON'S POV:

I kissed her, I could not believe it, and it felt right. I had never kissed a girl before, it felt… strange, but in a good way. She was as red as a tomato when we separated, and her expression was a combination of shock and joy. My expression was probably the mirror image of hers.

Figuring that we both needed a bit of time to take this all in, I decided to explore the junkyard, and I ran into Chloe, she had her arms crossed and she looked pissed.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I saw that you know," she stated, "you made out with Max."

 _"Oh shit she saw,"_ I thought to myself. I panicked and hysterically apologized and gave explanations. Chloe and Max seemed really close, and that was an understatement. Of course she would be pissed about this. I had pushed my way in on something I shouldn't have without giving it a second thought. Now, I was going to pay the price.

I flinched slightly as she raised her hand, wondering if she was going to beat me up or something, but she didn't. Instead, she pinched my lips shut and said, "Shhh."

I kept quiet, not wanting to anger her any more than she probably already was. Something told me that I would stand literally no chance against her rage.

"I'm not mad," she purred seductively, "I'm just jealous."

She grabbed me by the shoulders and she kissed me for five seconds, and then she slipped her tongue into my mouth and spun it around inside. After fifteen seconds, she released me from the French kiss, but she still gripped my shoulders. I just stood there dazed for a few seconds, trying to process everything. It was the very last reaction I had been expecting from her.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked my voice coming out half-strangled.

"That's for stealing a kiss off my girl. Now we're even," she grinned impishly, reveling in the chaos she had caused.

She walked away to find Max, but one thing stuck in my mind. 'I'm not mad, I'm just jealous.' I had no idea what she meant by that, was she jealous about me kissing Max, or Max kissing me? I pondered that question as I approached the girls, not sure what was going to happen next.

 **Thank You Co-Authors! And thank you readers.**


	10. A Brief History

**Ch. 10: A Brief History**

 **Disclaimer: When Max talks about her visions, keep in mind that in my story the apocalypse didn't happen, so no visions of tornadoes.**

AARON WATSON'S POV:

We decided to have a small campfire at the junkyard. Max said that he could stay there until ten o'clock and then head back to campus. Chloe went into the woods to collect branches and dead pine needles for the fire and she left me alone with nothing to. Max and I sat there awkwardly, neither of us were very good at starting conversations. My mind whirred, trying to think of something we could both talk about. When I drew a blank, my eyes wondered down the guitar beside her. Maybe word wouldn't be needed to pass the time.

"So," I spoke up, "can I play your guitar?"

"Um," she was a little unwilling to let me play her guitar, but she gave it to me anyway. When it was out of her hands and in mine, she looked extremely anxious. I could completely understand why. For anyone serious about music, an instrument was an extension of their body. One of their most prized possessions. Sometimes, they held a lot of emotional value. If any significant amount of damage occurred it could totally ruin the instrument, making it unplayable. Decent guitars weren't cheap either.

I examined it thoroughly, and I was careful not to damage my stickers. "Don't worry," I said reassuringly, doing everything I could to ease her worries, "I'll be gentle."

I then proceeded to play the intro to _Hotel California_. The music was soothing and felt almost mysterious in nature, it seemed that Max was being drawn in, as if the music was a siren's song. I noticed the look on their faces; the expression was halfway between shock and awe. The song itself reminded me of simpler times, when my mother would play for me so I could study her fingers, what frets she used, and what strings she picked. When he was done with the complex intro, I carefully handed her the guitar. The music had worked to pass the time for a bit. Now, we were struck with silence yet again. Somehow, it wasn't quite as awkward as before.

"So," I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering if I should actually bring this topic up. It would be embarrassing for both of us and maybe irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Still, I could not help myself. "Chloe told me that she saw us kiss."

Her face was visibly red, even when she was in the shadows. When she had finally composed herself, she looked at me with hesitant curiosity. "What did she do?" She asked.

I could feel my face heat up as I uttered the next three surreal words, "She kissed me."

"Huh?" She asked clearly not having expected that response at all.

"With tongue," I stated feeling words fail me.

She looked confused, which was better than the unforgiving rage that I was expecting, so I gave her details.

"She said 'I'm not mad, I'm just jealous' and then she French kissed me," I recalled, swallowing hard to wet my suddenly dry throat, "and when she was done she said 'that's for stealing a kiss off my girl. Now we're even.'"

"I see," she stated with clarity, her expression unreadable, "this is a game to her."

"I'm not too sure," I shrugged, "she may actually like me."

"Anything's possible with Chloe," Max confirmed, not looking all too pleased by that realization. Before I had the chance to say anything further, we were interrupted.

"I'm back with twigs," we heard Chloe yell from the edge of the junkyard. Her return marked the end of that short, awkward conversation. Part of me was thankful for it, but the other part wanted to press further. Max hadn't really given anything away in her response about how she actually felt. I suspected that even if I did talk about it more, it wouldn't get me any closer to a definitive answer. There was no point in pushing the topic, so I gave it up.

Later, after we started the fire, we found comfortable places to relax. Max leaned up against a bunch of rusty cars as she played her guitar, Chloe lay in the dirt facing upward with one knee in the air, and I sat in the dirt with my legs crossed.

"So, what do you guys do for fun?" I asked curious to find out more about the two women. They seemed like an odd pair

"I rob banks and Max fights crime," Chloe stated sounding very serious about it for about three seconds before she broke out into a broad grin that betrayed her obvious lie, "beware the might of Super Max." She then whistled the Superman theme song.

"She's an escaped mental patient and I'm her psychiatrist," Max said clearly stifling her own smile. They were clearly enjoying messing with me.

"Please stop," I begged. Maybe I should have expected that kind of response from Chloe. From what I had seen of her, she did enjoy teasing people.

"So," Chloe sat up, given the way she was posed she looked like a model on a magazine cover, "who has a ghost story?"

"Nope," I stated. Me and horror just did not work. Especially in the middle of a spooky, empty junkyard.

"Please don't," Max pleaded mirroring my disapproval for the idea.

She stood up ready to expose every gruesome detail to her unwilling audience, "Long ago in Arcadia Bay…"

"Okay, I'm putting a moratorium on that right now," Max interrupted as she turned toward me. "Aaron, the story she was going to tell made me sleep with a baby blanket until I was seventeen."

The bluenette sighed and lay back down in the dirt, obviously disappointed at not being able to scare them silly, "Fine, but we have nothing else to talk about."

That was not 100% true. I certainly had a few questions to ask the pair, Max in particular. She was the only person I had come across who was like me. This was as good an opportunity as any to bring up some of the larger questions surrounding her rewind powers. Just how similar were our circumstances?

"So," I spoke up and turned towards Max, "I told you about how my powers came about but I don't really know much about yours."

Chloe turned to the side out of interest in our conversation. On leg was flat against the ground while her other leg was bent with her knee touching the ground in front of her. One of her arms supported her head and the other one was bent in front of her. It was a pose that screamed 'draw me like one of your French girls.'

"Yeah," she rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess I didn't really talk about it much yet. It's…a long story. I suppose it's only fair to tell part of it at least."

"You don't have to force yourself, Max." Chloe added, sounding much more gentle and sympathetic than I had ever heard her. The concern was clear in her voice and on her face. That was when I knew I was about to hear something extremely heavy and intense.

"It's okay, Chloe. I can handle it," Max reassured as persuasively as she could manage. I wondered if she was trying to convince Chloe or herself more.

"If you say so," Chloe muttered, not sounding entirely swayed. Or maybe she had her own reservations about hearing the events again, doubted whether she herself could handle it. She definitely seemed like the type of person to hide her own fears and doubts by passing them of onto others.

After a few moments of silence, Max began to hesitantly relay the circumstances surrounding her power discovery and other events leading up to this point. "Around the beginning of October, I had a vision of a dark room. Only later did I figure out that the dark room was the place where Rachel…"

She briefly paused when she saw the look on Chloe's face, I knew she meant where she died.

"Anyway," she continued, "sometime after my first vision I learned about my time reversal power."

She continued on, she talked about her adventures with Chloe, the arrest of someone named Mark Jefferson, and the discovery of Rachel's body. Most of the details were vague, but others were very descriptive, specifically the fun moments, and they all involved Chloe. They loved each other.

She sighed deeply, a darker atmosphere hanging over us all now, "So, yeah, that's a brief summary."

"I'm…not quite sure what to say," I stuttered, words failed me.

"You don't have to say anything," she stated.

"Well, you guys sure know how to kill the mood…" Chloe spoke up.

Suddenly, we all heard a noise in the distance, the unmistakable howl of a wolf, and it sounded close.

"I think it's time to hit the ol' dusty trail," with that Chloe stood straight up and stretched her arms above her head, joints clicking loudly.

"Agreed," Max and I said at the same time. We turned toward the truck ready to run like hell, but what we saw stopped us dead in our tracks. It was the wolf, but it did not look like a wolf, it was translucent. My knowledge of Oregon's wildlife was admittedly limited, but this was unnatural by every definition of the word.

"I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" I asked, my body freezing in place as this supernatural vision appeared before us. The tips of its pointed fangs protruded slightly from its mouth, but not in a hostile way. Instead, it hung back just watching us. The beast seemed to be looking right at me, predator eyes fixed on mine. In that moment, I felt a strange connection with it. Like it was staring directly into my soul. It felt both frightening and reassuring all at the same time. I had never experienced anything like it before and probably never would again.

"I see the ghost wolf," Max stated sounding unnaturally calm and composed. Had I not been so terrified and confused, I would have questioned her about it. There were, however, other things on my mind.

Chloe could only manage to say, "What the fuck?"

Just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished. For a few seconds after, thin ghostly blue tendrils remained behind before spiraling upwards to the night sky. The air thrummed with a weird energy, lingering long after its vanishing.

I did a double take, shock reeling in my mind. If it hadn't been for Chloe and Max's reactions, I would have sworn I'd gone mad. Even with the reassurance that someone else other than me had seen the spectral figure, I still questioned my sanity...what was left of it anyway. Maybe we were just having some kind of group hallucination. Or it could have been a trick of the light. Nothing else made sense to me.

A few moments of silence passed between us before Max turned to me solemnly. From the expression on her face and how calmly she was acting in the face of such a weird apparition, she must have seen something like this before. "I'd keep an eye out for that if I were you. It might lead you to answers… or a warning."

Chloe seemed as confused as I did as Max went on ahead of us. I was stunned, lost for words. There was something very strange going on in Arcadia Bay and I began to wonder if I would ever be able to uncover its mysteries. The answer, not likely.

 **I thank all of you for your support.**


	11. Time with Aaron

**Ch. 11: Time with Aaron**

CHLOE PRICE'S POV:

Aaron was fast asleep before we got to my house. I helped him to his bed and I went to my own. I could not stop thinking about the ghost wolf. So much so that during the night I dreamt that Max, Aaron and I were three piglets building houses. When I woke up I vowed I would have no sweets before bed, a vow I would surely brake in the future.

I snuck into Aaron's room, he was sleeping on the wrong side of the bed. It was adorable, he was like a human plushie.

 _"Oh the ways I could wake you up. You've been here four days and you treat this room like it's yours,"_ I thought to myself.

"You keep staring like that and he might get the wrong idea," my mom's voice whispered behind me. I turned quickly and quietly. She was already in her waitress uniform.

"Jesus, you're a freaking ninja," I whispered loudly.

"You're smitten," she stated.

"Am not," I argued, but I could feel the blush on my face.

"Don't worry," she winked, "I won't tell Max about the competition. There's scrambled eggs on the stove.'

Once she had left, I gave Aaron a solid jab in the ribs, hearing him groan. "Come on, up and at 'em. As mom would say, 'wakey wakey eggs and bakey'. If you don't get up, I'll eat it all. Don't think I won't."

"Gimme a…" His sentence was lost to a huge yawn, blue eyes blinking in a sleepy daze.

"Aw, are you too sleepy to move? Cute," I teased, watching him try and fail to get up.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him out. He stumbled, almost losing his footing and falling flat on his face.

Before he could, I held him steady. "Whoa, easy there, dude."

"Kind of your fault," he replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

I stood him back up, "Big mistake. Nothing is ever my fault. But I'll let you off, rookie. Soon, you'll be as well trained as Max is."

"Ha," he said, "no one can break me."

"Oooh, issuing challenges. Second big mistake. Max is seriously going to have to give you a 'Chloe crash course' before it's too late. I'll let you get dressed," I smirked, "you've got five minutes before I start without you."

When Aaron was ready, we headed downstairs to chow down on the breakfast Joyce had made for us. As usual, I had a healthy appetite and managed to scrounge some of his food too. Like Max, he gave in pretty quickly. One quick flash of the puppy dog eyes and he was putty in my hands. There were plenty of similarities between him and Max, time travel aside. In fact, if my childhood best friend was a dude, she would almost definitely be Aaron. That might help explain a few things.

After breakfast, we decided to go on a quick walk to pass time. Strolling down the familiar street, I was hit with a flood of memories of Max and me. She lived pretty close by, so we were nearly always together. If only I could turn back time… although, as already proven it wasn't that simple.

"You seem… happy," Aaron stated. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, some of my childhood adventures. You see that house over there." I pointed to a house part way down the street. "I used to sneak into the garden."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Just because. I was always a rebel at heart and that was the only fence with a gap big enough to squeeze through," she explained. "Max used to watch me and complain, but she always ended up joining me and we never got caught."

"Sounds like you two were close." He said with a smile.

I smiled back, "Yeah, we were. And we are now, for different reasons. For a time, I did wish she'd never even come into my life. Guess even I can get it wrong sometimes. Although, don't dare tell Max I said that or there will be hell to pay."

"Got it," he said wide-eyed

We stayed out for a while and I reminisced aloud about childhood mischief. Aaron quietly listened, making a comment every now and then, but mostly listening. It was… nice to feel like someone was actually listening instead of just waiting for the right opportunity to talk about themselves and drown me out. It was a balance very few ever managed.

After a while, I wanted to show him my room, but I did not want to make him uncomfortable… yet. So I asked him to close his eyes and led him there, the look on his face when he saw it was my bedroom was priceless. My room was… messy, to say the least. Magazines and clothes littered the ground, and pictures, posters, and graffiti covered the walls. I used an American flag as a curtain angled stripes up.

"Well," he said, "this is… rebellious."

"Damn right," I said. "I wouldn't want to disappoint and I have an image to uphold."

"You know," he stated, "a guy could get the wrong idea being invited to a girl's room."

"'Girl'?" I asked with my hands on my hips, unimpressed.

"… woman?" He whispered quickly correcting himself.

"I _am_ nineteen," I said, "speaking of which, how old are you?"

"Eighteen," he stated.

I whistled, "You're old enough to date. If you want I can hook you up with Victoria."

"N-no," he became flustered, "I, uh… she's kinda scary."

"Hot, though, right?" I asked enjoying the moment, "I would, even though she's a total bitch."

My comment seemed to embarrass him. "I guess," he rubbed the back of his neck, "not really my type."

"Oh, so what is your type then, hmm?" I asked. "I already know Max's, so it's just you left."

"What is Max's type?" he asked eager to dodge my question.

"Uh, me, duh. Then again, I'm a lot of people's type. The charming, roguish punk. So, type?" I insisted, not letting him get away with that weak ass excuse for a deflect

"Um, I dunno," he was as red as a cherry.

"Oh, come on dude. You must know what kinda things you're into. Even if you haven't actually ever dated anyone. No need to be shy. For starters, chicks or dudes, or both, or whatever else?" I asked. I was legitimately eager for an answer.

"I like… chicks," he said. I liked that answer.

"Figures. Personally, I'm not really all that bothered," I said. "More about the person, who they are, not what they are. I do seem to have a thing for quiet, nerdy, hipster types. Guess I have Max to thank for that. Think I've grown out of my 'bad boy' phase, mostly."

"Bad boy phase?" he asked.

Now I was the one feeling uncomfortable, "Not my proudest moment. After my dad died, I had a lot of shit to deal with and went off the rails. Still not totally on the rails yet, but I'm getting there. Max and… Rachel helped me."

"So, you've, um…" Any heat that was on me was immediately on him.

"Had sex?" I asked getting a hesitant nod in return. "Yeah, I have. What about you, music maestro? Bet you've had some extensive fingering practice… with guitars, at least." I teased making a bicycling motion with my index and middle fingers.

"Uh…" he was adorable when he was flustered.

"You're still a virgin, then," I stated without any preamble. "I suspected as much. You and Max give off that same vibe."

He raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised and relieved, "You're not going to make fun of me?"

In that moment I had an evil, awful idea. "No," an evil smile creeped its way across my face. "Actually, I have a way to help if you're interested."

"Sorry what?" Arron asked dumbfounded, the expression on his face was priceless.

"Don't worry, I won't push you too hard or anything," I smirked, watching the slow working blush creep onto his face. "Consider this a… dry run, so to speak."

Wasting no time, I walked over to him and grabbed him by the waist, kissing him gently. Better to ease him into it. Sure, I might've got kicked from Blackwell, but damn was I good at other s***, kissing among them.

Stopping momentarily, I leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "You get bonus points if you put your hand on the girl's waist while you kiss." As I said that, I guided his hands onto my hips and continued the kiss.

When his hands started to wander further down to my a**, a little too far south of the border, I pulled back and planted his hands firmly back on my hips. "Whoa, slow down there, Speedy Gonzalez. You gotta buy me dinner first," I added teasingly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, lowering his gaze in shame.

"Hey." Taking hold of his chin, I gently raised his head so I could look him in the eyes. "Chill out, okay. You're learning from the best. Just don't force it and most importantly, enjoy it."

Keen to step it up a notch, I took hold of his wrist and led him to the bed. Gently pushing him down onto the mattress, I climbed on top of him with my hands either side of his head. He glanced up at me, uncertain but not against this. When I didn't get any verbal complaints, I leaned in and kissed him again. Just as I suggested, he seemed to be savoring it, not rushing.

As nice as this was, I wanted to take it just a little further. Or try to. "Now, let's try something a little different, huh?"

Before he could answer, I took his hands and placed them on my butt. His eyes widened slightly at the unexpected move, not quite sure what to do. It took him a moment or two to acclimatize with some reassurance. Honestly, for someone who wasn't so experienced, he was doing a pretty decent job.

When I went to move his hands down, I felt some resistance. Clearly, he'd had enough. As tempting as it might be to push, this was his first time doing something like this. A little disappointed, I eased myself off him.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today," I announced as he sat up. "So, what did you think?"

"I… think I liked it," he replied hesitantly.

"Hmm, yeah I could tell." I winked at him, watching his face turn red. "No need to be shy about it, dude."

"I'm not really a people person," Aaron stated.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically, "You seemed pretty friendly with me a few seconds ago."

"You know what I mean," he said. "You and Max have been my only friends since my mom died… that is: you didn't become my friends out of pity… I think. However, at this point I think you're… more than friends… at this point." He spoke uncomfortably, but he was honest.

I playfully hit his arm. "You're not a wordsmith but you _are_ a good person. Not too many of those around. Really gotta pick through the shit to find anyone worth the time and effort. And, if you stick around, we'll see just how 'friendly' we get. Deal?"

Considering it for a second, he smiled. "Deal."

 **I am so sorry about the wait. College life you know.**


End file.
